I remember my first visit to Ewood very well. It was late November 1946 and Rovers were playing Grimsby in the !st Div. We cycled over from Ashton on the Blackpool side of Preston and got to Blackburn via the Old Road and Livesey Branch Rd. I still remember thinking as we slogged along Livesey Branch Rd with my dad encouraging me by saying "come on lad , not far now" and me thinking "you have been saying that for miles now, and we will have all this to do again going home" However we made it to Ewood and I remember we got our bikes stored in the back yard of a house on Nuttall Street for the princely sum of one shilling (5p). Unfortunately I can't remember much about the match itself. The only thing that sticks in my mind is that we had gone with the main purpose of watching Bobby Langton who was then a current England international, but I can't honestly remember anything about his performance that day, or indeed whether he even played! I was however very impressed with Ewood Park and the atmosphere was great, and I became a Rovers supporter from there on. So all in all, I reckon it was well worth the hard slog on the bike.

He could also use his knowledge of Rovers players to the advantage of Palace, and come sniffing round some of our fringe players.

This thread has got me thinking of how many points Rovers would have gained and lost over this season if there had not been any wrong decisions made by the match officials. I can only think of the following instances; others may remember more: Newcastle away: Hand of Ped decision - should have drawn - minus 2 points Liverpool away; Zura wrongly sent off - would have at least drawn? - plus 1 point Spuds away; They got 2 illegal goals - would have won -plus 3 points Liverpool home; They got 1 illegal goal - would have won IMO -plus 3 points Chelsea home; They should have had at least one penalty - minus 2 points So as I see it minus 4points and plus 7 points means we should have got 66 points overall which would have got us into 5th place. Have I missed any out? Whoops! I forgot to make the necessary allowances for the points gained or lost by our opponents in the above. Dillo where are you?

You are absolutely right Modes, but all of us fans need to allow that just as we are, the refs are human beings too; and human beings are not infallible. I am sure that refs generally TRY to get it right, in all except a very few cases.

Don't you mean Chelski, Manure, Spuds and Liverpool?

And that includes Kuqi!

The difference between the case you quote cn174 and the case that Rev quoted is that in this one there is obvious and deliberate bias, i.e. cheating on the part of the ref. But in the case Rev quoted it is not based on a desire to deliberately cheat, rather on a panic feeling caused by uncertainty. I suppose if you really look at it from a morality point of view the ref should stop the play and explain to both captains why, and re-start with a bounce-up. Then I suppose in this day and age instead of both captains accepting that the ref was trying to do the honest thing, one or both of them would start mouthing off about they were being cheated out of a free kick, or something. The poor ref cant do right for doing wrong can he? Who'd be ref?

I think it's great that we all still have the chance to watch such a great player in regular weekly action, even if he is playing for the Arse. Just as long as Toddy is still around to keep him quiet when they play us Incidentally, slightly off-topic, I got to thinking about which is/was the better player out of Henry and Shearer given both at their peak? What do you guys think? Personally I find it very hard to choose as they are/were huge talents, but completely different styles of player, and both hugely effective and invaluable members of their respective teams.

I seem to remember that Bergen is the wettest place in Europe; at least that is what we were told when I visited Bergen in 1953 on H.M.S. Devonshire. Could that be the reason ?

Many thanks to Ronin and Tchokky for revealing to me the answer to the Scudetto mystery. Now I understand.

Yes, and the greatest benefit for Rovers would be that with all those "stars" available, the super-rich clubs would not be sniffing round any of our players. Not even Bellamy! Oh and while I am thinking about it: Could someone please explain to me (without laughing) just exactly what a "Scudetto" is? There are numerous references to this mysterious object in various posts above, and I have to plead ignorance of ever having come across this word before.

Shouldn't think they will be there too long.

Fantastic stuff Bob! I hope they do sign you up for next season on those terms. Oh, and please can I be your agent?

Has Bellamy not got an English grandparent?

When I think that we were supposed to be getting SGE as our manager after Harford! What a lucky escape we had! Oh dear though; then we got Woy instead. Nightmare!!

In a word "anonymous". Sorry but that is how I saw it.

If we get those players in it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that we could be seriously contending for first next season!

Can someone please help? Is the Rovers match with City on SKY Tv live, or is it just on Football First? Thanks.

I think you are right Lathund. We were on balance the slightly better side last night. Certainly in the first half, and we held our own in the second too. Also like you I felt we were lucky in the penalty let-offs; but considering all the bad decisions from various officials we have had this season ( and a few lucky ones too: hand of Ped etc) I feel that overall our luck has evened itself out both ways. Therefore no complaints; let's all be happy!

Who was in charge then? I'll give you a clue; it begins with Sou.....

What about north of the Forth?

I take it that you are another one who dislikes the England team then

That may very well be so, BUT, both Sav and Bellers have a reputuation amongst referees these days for being gobby. So they are starting every match with a handicap (deserved or not) and until they have BOTH demonstrated over a fair period that they have learnt a bit of discipline, this situation is not going to change. MH should acquaint them both of this fact in no uncertain terms!

I thought he played on the left wing for Stoke in most games. Still managed to be their top scorer though!

Are his initials MH?